Sports in 2 Minutes

From The Associated Press

Young Rays enjoying big stage

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.—The manager wears thick-rimmed glasses and listens to everything from the Rolling Stones to the Four Tops. Mohawk is the haircut of the moment. Inspirational quotes decorate walls of the Tampa Bay Rays clubhouse — and we’re not talking conventional baseball wisdom.

Albert Camus weighs in with a thought, although it’s not clear if the French existentialist had any advice for hitting a split-fingered fastball. Economist Alan Greenspan is represented. The words of college basketball coaching great John Wooden are cited.

“Integrity Has No Need Of Rules.” — that’s Camus.

“Rules Cannot Take The Place Of Character.” — Greenspan said that.

“Discipline Yourself So No One Else Has To.” — that’s all Wooden.

“98.” Now, that one belongs to Joe Maddon, the unconventional skipper who sold his young players on the motto that’s become the club’s mantra during an improbable run to the World Series.

“I didn’t know what the hell it meant at first,” designated hitter Cliff Floyd said, recalling a speech Maddon delivered on the first day of spring training.

Some players rolled their eyes. Others stared straight ahead with blank looks on their faces.

Floyd, a 14-year veteran signed last winter to add leadership and stability to the clubhouse, gave Maddon the benefit of the doubt.

“It was a different speech than what you’re accustomed to hearing when you come to spring training. It’s usually, “We’ve got a good team, you’ve just got to believe it.’ It was different. So when he said it, people perked up. ‘Whoa. OK, let’s figure out what this means and try to accomplish it.’”

The rest, as they say, is history.

Singletary vows to raise 49ers’ intensity

SANTA CLARA, Calif.—Mike Singletary radiated an uncommon intensity during his Hall of Fame career with the Chicago Bears. He then spent a decade giving motivational speeches before getting into coaching in 2003 as Mike Nolan’s right-hand man.

With yet another season nearly lost in San Francisco, the woebegone 49ers will need every bit of intensity and motivation they can get from the former linebacker with the famously fierce eyes.

Singletary became the 49ers’ interim head coach Tuesday, replacing his coaching mentor with a vow to build on the foundation he built with Nolan — even if he only gets nine games to do it.

“Right now, the guys realize that we do have something here,” Singletary said. “To what degree, I don’t know, but we do have something special here. It’s a matter of stepping in and being able to bring it together, and that’s something I’ve done all my life.”

After the club fired Nolan seven games into his fourth season, Singletary had mixed feelings Monday night when general manager Scot McCloughan asked him to take charge. Although Singletary has interviewed for four top jobs in the NFL and another at Baylor, his alma mater, the thought of replacing Nolan made him uneasy until he spoke to the man who had just been dismissed.

Michael Vick ready to plead guilty on charges

SURRY, Va.—Former NFL quarterback Michael Vick plans to plead guilty to state dogfighting charges, a step that could allow him to qualify for an early release from federal prison and into a halfway house, court papers show.

In a motion filed Oct. 15 in Surry County Circuit Court, Vick’s attorneys asked to have him enter his plea by video teleconference. A hearing on the motion is scheduled for Oct. 30, Surry County Circuit Court administrator Sally Neblett said Tuesday.

The court papers note that allowing Vick to appear on two-way video would save the government the considerable expense of transporting him from prison in Leavenworth, Kan., to Surry County. His guilty plea would also allow him to pursue a halfway house program.

Under federal rules, Vick is ineligible to be released to a Residential Re-entry Center in the federal system until any pending charges against him are resolved.

In a statement, Vick attorneys Billy Martin and Lawrence Woodward said their client “is committed to taking responsibility for his actions. He is hopeful that, through this motion, the trial court will allow him to finally resolve these matters and put the charges behind him so that he can begin to focus on his future and to prepare to be reunited with his family.”

Another Red Sox headed for surgery

BOSTON—Terry Francona has won two World Series championships in five seasons — as many as any Red Sox manager in franchise history.

And he has these souvenirs of his time in Boston as well: A foot infection, a knee replacement, staph infections in both knees, chest pains, several years on blood-thinners, a life-threatening blood clot in his lungs and now a back problem that will require surgery.

“This job takes an unbelievable amount (out of you). Sometimes it almost sucks the life out of you,” he told reporters Tuesday in a season-ending interview that was postponed a day so he could recover from symptoms of the flu.

“It does take it out of you — this place more than any other place I’ve seen. And I do have some health issues, there’s no getting around it. So I need to go get checked and get some of that fixed, but if there’s ever a day where I don’t feel like I can do my job, I won’t do it.”

Francona is due for back surgery this offseason to deal with a problem that has left him with diminished feeling in his arms and unable to stand up straight at times. He’s been aware of the problem since May, but only now does he have the opportunity to take care of it without missing a large swath of the baseball season.

Reggie Bush has knee surgery

LONDON—Reggie Bush had surgery on his left knee and it’s unclear when the New Orleans Saints running back will be back with the team.

Bush, injured on a punt return in the first half of Sunday’s 30-7 loss to the Carolina Panthers, had the operation Monday in Birmingham, Ala., Saints spokesman Greg Bensel said Tuesday in an e-mail to The Associated Press. He gave no other details.

Instead of accompanying his teammates on the trip to London to face the San Diego Chargers on Sunday at Wembley Stadium, Bush instead visited Dr. James Andrews.

“He has been a big part of what we have been able to do offensively and it’s an injury that we have to deal with,” Saints coach Sean Payton said shortly after the team arrived Monday. “Hopefully on a short-term basis rather than a long-term basis, and it sounds like that’s the case.”

Bush sustained cartilage damage, and some athletes have missed several months because of surgery to repair similar injuries.

Curlin draws No. 9 post for BC Classic

ARCADIA, Calif.—Curlin was made the early 7-5 favorite Tuesday in a field of 12 for the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Curlin would likely earn Horse of the Year honors for the second consecutive year if he defends his title Saturday at Santa Anita in his first race on a synthetic track.

“The synthetic is a huge question,” trainer Steve Asmussen said. “A higher percentage of horses train better over it than run well over it.”

Without retired Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown in the field, Raven’s Pass, winner of the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes in his last start, was made the 6-1 second choice. Like Curlin, Raven’s Pass will be trying a synthetic surface for the first time.

Curlin will break from the No. 9 post.

“Nine is a fine draw,” Asmussen said. “It’ll be the perfect spot for him.”